Sony Vaio TX2 has some good looks to it. Anywhere you look, you will find some marvelous detail, dumbfounding sights, intriguing elements and so forth. The design is a work of genius.

This ultra-slim subnotebook with an 11.1-inch screen would be greatly appreciated by connoisseurs and aesthetes. The machine pleases the eye even if it's unused. Given a prominent position, it can even become a highlight of an interior. Well, there is also other side to it, as its beauty constitutes a kind of a danger, which gave us a reason to ponder, Can it be that Vaio TX2 proves to be so attractive that it would be a waste to use it altogether? Hmm, that's a nice dilemma to have. In our view, it is reasonable to make one's world a better place to live by surrounding oneself with good looking things, even if those are supposed to be purely utilitarian instruments. If a tool meant for work can be at the same time a work of art, we'd appreciate it greatly.

Apart of the looks, the design has also a nice side to it. After some time the owner will notice, how this thing is elaborated as a whole. For Vaio TX2 is the best proof, that it is worth to spend millions on R&D. Those expenditures pay dividends big time, when the buyer is knocked off her/his feet with the cleverness of the bought device and becomes a champion and a fan of its brand for life. It is inevitable to come to a conclusion, that Sony designers thought of everything. Consider this: the designing team created the body by selecting an optimal layout of mechanical parts from a total of 37 different arrangements. There are no shortcomings whatsover. None! Nowhere!

We unanimously provide Vaio TX2 with a title of magister elegantiarum. Its body is entirely (not excluding the keyboard) made of carbon. The display cabinet (not excluding hinges) is a multi-layered carbon fiber and the bottom cabinet is a carbon composite, in which fine carbon fibers were compressed into plastic resin. In our test equipment the bottom panel (as well as the keyboard unit) was silver. The lid, on the other hand, was black. The carbon fiber, the space era material, makes Vaio TX2, in comparison with the T models of late, twice as strong in endurance and 9 per cent lighter than before (it weighs a meager 1.24 kg). That's phenomenal. But remember - it's not indestructible nevertheless. The silver lacquer coating can be scratched.

Thanks to LED-backlit screen (more on this later), the covering lid is remarkably thin - it measures only 4.5 mm. In comparison with conventional devices, it's like comparing a faucet in a Japanese capsule inn with a hydrant.

You may wonder, are there any shortcomings in the Vaio TX2 build? Yep, but we had to try hard in order to find them. We've discovered that the frame of the screen at the base, just at the Vaio logo, protrudes appallingly, and, when pushed, bends towards the inside. It was quite baffling drawback for us. We've also noticed that the cable joining the power adaptor with the electric socket is a little bit too short. But, as social psychology tells us, people who are not devoid of faults appeal to us more than those perfect ones - probably the same applies to the machines.

Considering the small dimensions (272.4 x 195.1 x 28.5mm) of this dainty subnotebook, one has to say that there are surprisingly numerous interfaces mounted in it. At first, however, they are nowhere to be seen. Not until we take a good look at it, we'll discover, that most of them are situated on the left side of the equipment. Behind a movable flap there are an USB 2.0 port and a modem socket (this arrangement can be quite troublesome if one uses the aforementioned interfaces on a daily basis). There's also a Type II PC Card slot and another USB 2.0 port in the back (there is only a pair of them - shame). On the right hand side, aside from an integrated DVD drive, there is a D-SUB port crammed. The same applies to the back, where, apart from the battery unit, there are a i.Link port and an Ethernet port squeezed in. The audio jacks are situated on the front side and on the very left of it there are two memory card readers.

Volume

Vaio TX2 is very quiet as a rule. It applies especially to the battery work mode. While idle, during simple office task operation, or during DVD rendition the fan turns on fairly rarely, is not bothering and quiets down quickly. Things get somewhat worse when the laptop is put to continuous stress while using external power source. Then the exhaust is forced to work constantly and its hum becomes quite noisy. But this is anything but a customary operation mode for the Vaio TX2, which is not a gaming or multimedia machine but a portable subnotebook.

Warmth

Thanks to low energy consuming and low heat emitting components Vaio TX2 is staying cool most of the time. The highest temperatures were measured in the vicinity of the fan. They amounted to 37.3 degrees Celsius on the topside, and 39.5 degrees at the bottom.

This is where the Sony laptop excels - big time. Thanks to the adoption of the most energy-saving components you can get (LED-backlit screen, ULV processor) the TX2 consumes as much power as the modern light bulb in a bedside lamp. Even less while working on the battery, thanks to the reduced clocking of the processor. Therefore, even a not very capacious battery would be enough for sufficient work times. However, the included battery has 7800 mAh, so we've expected a substantial life expectancy out of it. We did not err - TX2 has withstood eight and a half hours relying on battery. This is quite a feat. You can't really get any better (well, not exactly - it took almost eleven hours to discharge a battery for Sony Vaio TX3 XP/B, as was proved in a recent test published by notebook.cz).

BatteryEater Classic (full load): 4h 2min
BatteryEater Reader's (without load, min. brightness, no WLAN): 8h 37 min
DVD playback: 4h 13min

Current consumption

The TX2 uses as much energy as an energy-saving bulb.

minimal (all off or at minimum): 9,3 W
+ max brightness: 12,4 W
+ WLAN: 16,1 W
maximal (full load including WLAN): maks. 23,7 W
DVD rendition: 21,7 W